THE PRACTICAL HORSESKOER. 201 



than the ordinary bar shoe on account of its elasticity. 

 Adjust the spring- so that it Avill rest on the frog- a little 

 before the shoe touches the heels. This will g*ive a bearing* 

 on the frog- and l^eep the frog" and sole up to their places. 

 With this arrangement you divide the bearing- betAveen the 

 frog and the quarters as nearh^ in the natural way as pos- 

 sible. If a horse could always rest a part of his weig-ht on 

 the frog-, he never would suffer with contracted quarters, 

 flat or balg-ed soles or tender frog- (with sufficient water 

 bathing- in dry weather and Avhile standing- in dry places). 

 But, to continue : Take a piece of steel one-thirt3^-second 

 of an inch thick, cut out the frog- spring- long enoug-h to put 

 into the shoe a little forward of the heel, with sharp chisel 

 punch. Punch a hole in the inner part of each side of the 

 shoe three-eighths of an inch or more deep. These holes 

 are for the ends of the spring- and should be large enough 

 to permit the spring- to play a little, both endways and side- 

 ways. Cut the spring- the right length after the shoe is fit- 

 ted to the foot, then open the shoe and put the spring- in. 

 When the frog bears on the spring it holds the frog and 

 sole and foot bones in their places, and the sole, if left alone, 

 Avill soon thicken and harden and admit of an inner bear- 

 ing. The spring should neither be tempered nor hardened. 

 The accompan^'ing engraving. Fig. 11'2, shows the spring 

 and the manner of applying. — By S. Stone. 



Flat Feet. 



The bearing of flat feet, as a general rule, keeps the sole 

 alwaj^s on a level with the wall of the foot. Now since the 

 walls of flat feet spread instead of growing- straight down, 

 it follows that such feet are always low enough, and no 

 paring can be done in that direction without endangering 

 the animal. 



To shoe them I would first, with a good pair of pinchers. 



